Argentina vs Brazil postponed: Heavy rain leaves fans stranded and pitch waterlogged as South American qualifier suspended
The eargerly anticipated encounter will now take place on Friday night at Buenos Aires' Monumental Stadium
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Argentina-Brazil World Cup qualifier was postponed less than an hour before kick off on Thursday due to heavy rain that left the pitch waterlogged and fans in traffic unable to reach the ground, Brazilian officials said.
The match will now take place at the same Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires on Friday at 9pm local time (0000 GMT).
"We met with match officials and the Argentine representatives and there's no way the game can go on," Gilmar Rinaldi, assistant Brazil coach told reporters at the stadium.
"It wouldn't just be hard to play good football, there is hail and lightning and the forecast is that it will get worse.
"The players could be at risk and the referee decided to postpone the game," Rinaldi added.
"We agreed that it will be played at the same time tomorrow."
The match was one of the most eagerly anticipated encounters in Thursday's third round of South American qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.
Both sides have struggled so far in their quest to reach Russia in 2018 with Argentina failing to find the net in their opening two matches and Brazil losing one, against Chile, and winning one, against traditional whipping boys Venezuela.
Five-time world champions Brazil are fifth in the 10-team table, while Argentina are eighth. Four teams qualify automatically for World Cup, while the fifth goes into a playoff.
Argentina will be without their three main strikers for Friday's match, with Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez all injured.
Brazil will be at full strength and are welcoming back talisman Neymar after a four-match suspension.
Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments